Previews

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Activision and Gray Matter offer our first look at the inevitable expansion to the best PC game of 2003.

Spiffy:

A WWII fix for Memphis Belle fans.

Iffy:

Will an airplane missions feel like a side show?

The announcement of an expansion pack for Call of Duty couldn't have come as much of a surprise to most. After all, Infinity Ward's World War II shooter won all sorts of awards following its late 2003 release (including GameSpy's PC Game of the Year), and owned the top slot in the weekly PC sales charts for nearly four months, until finally being dislodged by Battlefield: Vietnam a few weeks ago.

What was interesting, however, was the announcement that Infinity Ward wouldn't be developing the expansion, entitled Call of Duty: United Offensive. Instead, that job's been given to Gray Matter, who most recently developed 2002's Return to Castle Wolfenstein. We had a chance to check out a few small bits of the expansion at a recent Activision event, and the good news is that it looks like the expansion should deliver a lot more of what made the original game so popular.

According to the developers, United Offensive "builds on the cinematic feel" of Call of Duty, so you can expect more of the same exciting moments that made the original so memorable. The first map we saw was from a new Russian campaign at the Battle of Kursk, starting with our character being hauled to the front lines in the back of a truck. Looking around, bombers could be seen flying overhead and there were lots of huge explosions left and right, evoking memories of Call of Duty's "Stalingrad" mission. Being escorted by tanks and surrounded by other soldiers, it's clear the game is holding true to its mantra of "no man fights alone."

Once the truck reached its destination, the mission began in earnest, as our soldiers navigated a series of trenches similar to one of Call of Duty's American missions (the one commonly referred to as the "Band of Brothers map"). The shell shock effect is still in place when you take a large amount of damage, as the sound cuts out and your vision blurs a bit. In fact, most of the beginning portion of the level didn't contain much combat at all, just a lot of running amidst explosions and mortals whistling through the air.

Eventually, we reached a position that we were required to hold, while enemies swarmed us in waves. We really didn't see anything all that new, just a lot of the same conventions seen in Call of Duty: the chaotic battlefield, the sound of bullets whizzing through air, mounting machineguns, blowing up tanks, and scripted events like a plane circling and diving in front of us while on fire. The level basically turned into a long run through the fields, diving for cover and fighting off enemies coming at us from all directions, until arriving at a dried out riverbed and then beginning a defense of a bridge. It didn't strike us as particularly innovative, but it does seem like it will still be a lot of fun.

All told, there are about 10 missions planned for United Offensive, split across three campaigns. (There won't be a final bonus campaign tying everything together, as there was in Call of Duty.) The expansion will focus on different characters than the original game, although some familiar faces should appear from time to time. There's also some new multiplayer content being created for the expansion, including nine new multiplayer maps are being planned for release, as well as the addition of vehicle combat, allowing infantry and vehicles to fight side-by-side.

Call of Duty: United Offensive is currently planned for a Fall 2004 release. Activision is planning to show off a new level at this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo focusing on some of the airborne bombers, so be sure to check our E3 coverage this week for another update.